McLaren have faded into the top four in recent races as rivals introduced updates, but it is hoped that an aerodynamic package, which will be rolled out at the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix either side of Formula One’s summer break, will return them to competitiveness.
They decided it was better to miss the grid in Belgium, where they expect to be no more competitive than at the last race in Britain, but where overtaking is relatively easy, than to compromise in Hungary, where the car should perform better and overtaking is notoriously difficult.
Norris said: “I have to wait and see how the overtaking actually happens. We probably have a slight advantage in straight line speed compared to people who are a little further away. So we should have a good chance compared to them.”
“Just overtaking here in general can be quite difficult. But the slipstream is quite large, and there are still a few straights, but there is no straight-line mode (on some flat sections), and therefore the slipstream is quite large, and you can make good money from it.
“But we know that it is better here than in Zandvoort and better than in Hungary in terms of penalties. Hopefully this isn’t the end of my weekend before it starts, but I’m still confident we can have a good race.”
Norris’ grid penalty comes after a poor start to the season for the team, which won the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship double last year, both in terms of performance and reliability.
Technically, the part replaced in Belgium is known as “power electronics” and is a control computer inside the battery module.
Norris was unable to start the Chinese Grand Prix in March due to an incurable problem with his power electronics unit, and a second example of the part had to be recalled due to problems in practice at the next race in Japan.
The Japanese unit was repaired, but an incurable problem arose during training in Monaco.
McLaren said in a statement: “Although the power electronics unit we installed in Japan and used in every session since Miami has performed reliably, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) has since made a number of reliability fixes to its new power electronics systems.
“However, in order to take advantage of these improvements, we must impose a 10-place penalty on Lando’s car in order to take a new unit.”
The statement added: “We now plan to use this fourth power electronics unit for the remainder of the season to maximize reliability and minimize sporting penalties for Lando.”
McLaren at Spa will have a new rear wing design, which the team hopes will better suit the specific characteristics of the high-speed circuit around the Ardennes forests.
This wing will feature a traditional straight-line opening style rather than the tumbling design introduced this season by Ferrari and Red Bull.
Red Bull had to revert to a traditional wing this weekend after Max Verstappen suffered high-speed crashes at two previous races due to design problems.
Mercedes has had a number of engine reliability issues this year, not just the battery.
Another appeared on the engine used by championship leader Kimi Antonelli at the British Grand Prix.
He had to return to HPP’s Brixworth base to investigate and as a result the Italian got a new engine this weekend in Belgium. This comes from its distribution and therefore does not incur any penalty.
Depending on the outcome of the investigation, Mercedes hopes to be able to return Antonelli’s car to Silverstone for use later this year.